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Soulbinding
Scumm
Member UncommonPosts: 78
Watching the stream the other day, I noticed that when Monty died he appeared back in town at a 'Nexus'. Check it out here:
I'm interested in what this mechanic is. For anyone unfamiliar, EQ began with only a 'Bind Affinity' spell exclusive to casters. They could cast the spell and bind their soul anywhere (except dungeons, I think?). When you died, you respawned at your bind point. Melee classes that couldn't cast the spell had to rely on the casters to bind them, but they were restricted to being bound in towns only.
I'm not sure when it changed or what the reason was (maybe WoW was released?), but at some point NPC 'Soulbinders' were placed at the front gates to most towns. Any player could just /hail the NPC and be automatically bound. No more need to /tell another player and ask for a bind.
Personally, I played a melee class in EQ and had to deal with asking for binds and running back to my body from town. I still think that was a decent system. It definitely wasn't as fast, but it gave players a reason to interact.
We've been talking a lot about death penalties and corpse retrieval, but this doesn't usually come up. What do people think? How was it handled in Vanguard? What's your favorite method?
I'm interested in what this mechanic is. For anyone unfamiliar, EQ began with only a 'Bind Affinity' spell exclusive to casters. They could cast the spell and bind their soul anywhere (except dungeons, I think?). When you died, you respawned at your bind point. Melee classes that couldn't cast the spell had to rely on the casters to bind them, but they were restricted to being bound in towns only.
I'm not sure when it changed or what the reason was (maybe WoW was released?), but at some point NPC 'Soulbinders' were placed at the front gates to most towns. Any player could just /hail the NPC and be automatically bound. No more need to /tell another player and ask for a bind.
Personally, I played a melee class in EQ and had to deal with asking for binds and running back to my body from town. I still think that was a decent system. It definitely wasn't as fast, but it gave players a reason to interact.
We've been talking a lot about death penalties and corpse retrieval, but this doesn't usually come up. What do people think? How was it handled in Vanguard? What's your favorite method?
Comments
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I also didn't care for corpse runs. Some people only have a couple hours to play each day and I'm sure they don't want to spend half that time trying to find their corpse or try to find someone that can summon it for you.
Played: EQ, EQ2, Vanguard, WAR, WoW, LoTRO, CoX, CO, GW2, FFXIV: ARR, AoC, Rift, TSW, SWTOR, TERA, BnS, ESO
I realize there's a balance between social-interaction and practicality. Or in other words, a balance between inter-dependency and convenience. This is one of those things where it's obviously easier for players to not have to worry about finding a bind, or where they are bound. But without trying to sound dramatic, should we also have an NPC at every city gate to cast SoW on players? Should we have an totem at every outpost that casts a complete heal? Where's the line?
Also, this thread was trying to ignore the debate on corpse runs, item loss, exp loss, or all those other aspects of death. I'm mostly asking that deepest of questions, 'where do you go when you die?'
My personal opinion is binding was a good system. At heart, it was player driven becuse players could determine somewhat where they were bound. It just needed more. Give us more binds. Allow melee to bind in more places. Allow us to buy bind potions, so we have to choose between spending money or socializing and asking for a bind. Make it the cost high enough it's a choice and not a copout. Allow us to pick which bind point we spawn at when we die. Also allow us to recall to our bind point with a 48-hour cooldown ability or something similar, for those occasions when it may be useful.
I don't want automatic binds. I think that's boring. The key remember is PLAYER-DRIVEN. Allow us to decide where/what/etc. Open up as many places as possible so players have choices to make. One of the beautiful thigns about Everquests's system was bind pints could be unique to certain places. For example, the gypsy camp in North Karana. Only downside it didn't have a bank nearby. This increases is exploration appeal. I love that.
If at all possible, even consider allowing players to share bind points with potions (or an ability) or an interdependency. For example, maybe wizards can allow somebody to trade or share a bind with someone else.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
Inventory + exp loss, as well as you respawning at the nearest major town you bound at, I don't think casters should have more rights than everyone else like in Everquest, they shouldn't be able to bind anywhere, they should feel the same restrictions as melees, town designated areas only.
I also think that there should be soulbinders in MAJOR cities only, that you should be able to pay for a bind. The price should be such that it is in your best interest to find a player to do it (if thats the route they take). Also the soulbinders should be located deep within the city, so as to make being player bound at the gates more advantageous and desired.
edited for clarity.
I can't wait to get all the testers into the game to group up and break things with!
I was happy with the original soul binding system in EQ.
Take that with a grain of salt, as I was playing a Magician and could bind myself.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
If all players could be bound in more locations, it would create new ways to deal with death penalties. Groups entering a risky dungeon might meet out front for a 'group-bind' in case things go wrong. But this would mean players couldn't just 'gate' home when they were done playing. It would all be a balance of risk and reward.
Also, it may be interesting for certain classes or high levels to have skills that allow 'Side-along Gating'. Maybe a single caster could bring a single player back to the caster's bind point with them.
Or maybe the Summoner class could have a 'banish' spell (hey if they're good at summoning, why not banishing too?). They could 'banish' players back to their bind point, which would act as a gate spell for classes who can't cast it.
Here:
http://wiki.project1999.com/Translocate
http://wiki.project1999.com/Translocate:_Group
I agree there should be a soulbinder NPC in major cities. Beyond that, I don't think there should be any limitation on where you can and can't bind as a non-caster. If a wizard can bind themselves outside of a city, they should be able to bind anyone else, imo. That limitation never made sense.